Category: My Journey

I’m counting calories again.

I’ve done this before, so I already know that counting calories works for me. I also know something else. Somewhere along the way, life has a tendency to get in the way.

It probably won’t be one big dramatic event that causes me to quit. More likely, it will be a time when there are simply too many things competing for my attention.

That’s happened before.

For a number of years, I was involved in taking care of Mom and Dad. They needed me, and taking care of them became a much higher priority than keeping track of everything I ate. I was overwhelmed. Something had to give, and counting calories was one of the things I let go.

I don’t regret that decision.

There are times in life when something truly is more important than losing weight.

There have been other times when nothing quite that important happened. There was simply too much work, too much stress, too much to think about and not enough of me to go around. When that happens, something that requires daily attention can gradually fall by the wayside.

That’s what I want to guard against this time.

I Don’t Have to Be Perfect

I’ve been thinking that perhaps my mistake in the past wasn’t that I stopped counting calories. Sometimes life really does become overwhelming.

Maybe the mistake was thinking of stopping as quitting.

Those are two very different things.

If life gets crazy and I miss a day of counting calories, I haven’t quit. If I have an unusually stressful week and don’t do very well, I haven’t quit. If circumstances become so demanding that I deliberately decide to put calorie counting aside for a little while, I still haven’t quit.

I’ve simply stopped for a while.

And I can start again.

I Need a Way Back

This time I want to have a plan before the obstacles arrive.

On the really busy days, maybe I don’t need to count every calorie perfectly. Perhaps I can simply keep a rough record of what I’ve eaten. That’s better than completely losing touch with what I’m doing.

And when things calm down, I don’t need to wait until Monday, the first of the month, or some magical day when I’m suddenly motivated again.

I can start with the very next meal.

I think that’s important.

There will always be another project. There will always be work to do. There will be stressful days and unexpected problems. I can’t build a weight-loss plan that depends upon life remaining calm, because life has never shown much interest in cooperating with my plans.

The Calorie Crusade Continues

I’m going into this knowing that there will be obstacles.

I’m also going into it knowing something I didn’t fully appreciate before: getting temporarily knocked off course doesn’t mean the journey is over.

I’ve been down this road before. This time, I want to recognize the obstacles before I get to them.

And if one of them knocks me down?

I’ll get back up and keep going.

After all, I’m a Calorie Crusader.

Years ago, I started something called Calorie Crusaders.

It grew out of my own efforts to lose weight by doing something remarkably simple: counting calories.

I only kept Calorie Crusaders going for a few months, but during that time I wrote about what I was eating, what I was learning and how I was doing. Eventually, life moved on, other things took priority, and Calorie Crusaders was put aside.

Well, Calorie Crusaders is back.

And so am I.

I’m Counting Calories Again

I’ve decided to start counting calories again and make a serious effort to lose weight.

This isn’t a new idea for me. I’ve counted calories before, and I know it works for me. There are countless diets and weight-loss programs out there, but I’ve always liked the simplicity of knowing how many calories I’m eating and making my choices accordingly.

There are no forbidden foods.

I don’t have to eliminate entire food groups. I don’t have to eat special foods. I don’t have to prepare one meal for myself and something entirely different for everyone else.

I have a calorie budget, and I decide how I want to spend it.

Of course, that doesn’t mean nutrition isn’t important. It is. I want to pay attention not only to calories but also to what I’m getting from those calories.

But when it comes to losing weight, counting calories gives me a structure that I understand and can live with.

Why Bring Back Calorie Crusaders?

I could just count my calories quietly and go about my business.

But I’ve discovered something about myself over the years.

Writing about what I’m doing helps me stay interested in what I’m doing.

Calorie Crusaders gives me a place to talk about the things I’m learning, the things that work, the things that don’t work and probably a few things that don’t go according to plan at all.

It gives me a project.

And projects motivate me.

There’s another reason I’m bringing Calorie Crusaders back.

It’s fun.

That’s actually a pretty important reason.

I enjoy working on the website. I enjoy writing about what I’m doing. I enjoy experimenting with food and figuring out how to make things fit into my calorie budget. I enjoy watching a project develop from an idea into something real.

Losing weight is going to take a long time. If I’m going to stick with something for that long, why shouldn’t I find a way to make it enjoyable?

Calorie Crusaders makes it more fun.

This Time I Know There Will Be Obstacles

I’m not starting this thinking that every day is going to go perfectly.

I’ve done this before.

I know there will be days when I’m hungry. There will probably be days when I eat more than I intended. There will be holidays, restaurant meals, busy days and stressful days. There will be weeks when the scale doesn’t do what I think it ought to do.

Life will happen.

In the past, some of those things have eventually caused me to lose focus. That’s something I’m going to be thinking and writing about this time around.

I don’t need to be perfect.

I need to keep coming back.

So Here We Go

I still have some of my old Calorie Crusaders writing, and eventually I hope to bring some of it back here too.

I’ll write about calorie counting, the foods I’m eating, the tools I’m using and the things I learn along the way. I’ll share the successes, but I also want to talk honestly about the difficult parts.

I don’t know exactly where all of this will lead.

I do know where it starts.

I’m counting calories again.

I’m writing about it again.

I’m having fun with it again.

Calorie Crusaders is back.

Let’s see where we go from here.